Ashckaft



(No Model.)

B. D. STAPLES & H. E. ASHGRAPT.

HOSPITAL TRANSFER BED. No. 378,220. Patented Feb. 21, 1888.

WITNESSES: INVENTOR:

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lhvrrnn S'rnrns Parent @rrrone ELIZABETH DOUGLAS STAPLES, OF \YEST NEWBRIGHTON, AND HUGH E. ASHCRAFT, OF GOSHEN, NElV YORK, ASSIGNORS TO SAIDELIZABETH DOUGLAS STAPLES.

HOSPITAL TRANSFER-BED.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 378,220, dated February21, 1888.

Application filed October 11, 1887. Serial No. 252,098. (No model.)

To all whom it 'inay concern:

Be it known that we, ELIZABETH DOUGLAS STAPLES, of West New Brighton, inthe county ofll ichmond and State of New York,and HUGH E. AsHORilFT, ofGoshen, in the county of Orange and State of New York, have invented anew and Improved Hospital Transfer-Bed, of which the following is afull, clear, and exact description.

This invention relates to anovel form of cot or bed, the object of theinvention being to provide for the rapid and easy transfer of patientsfrom one cot or bed to another; and to the end named the inventionconsists, essentially, of an endless carrier belt or mattress that ismounted upon drums or rollers that are journaled in the bed-frame, allas will be hereinafter more fully described, and specifically pointedout in the claims.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part ofthis specification, in which similar figures of reference indicatecorresponding parts in all the views.

Figure 1 is a side view of our improved hospital bed or cot, the partsbeing represented as they appear when adjusted for ordinary use. Fig. 2is a similar view, the parts, however, being represented as they appearwhen adjusted to a position to transfer a patient from one cot toanother. Fig. 3 is a crosssectional view taken on line x as of Fig. 1;and Fig. 4 is an enlarged detail sectional plan view, the view beingtaken on line y y of Fig. 1.

In constructing such a bed or cot as the one illustrated in the drawingsabove referred to, we provide four end posts, 10, that are connected inany suitable manner, and upon these posts we mount druxns1l,which arejournaled in apertures or slots 2, formed in the upper ends of theposts, as illustrated in the drawings; but any other proper means formounting the rollers might be adopted. Upon the drums 11 we stretch anendless belt of woven wire or canvas or other proper material, such asthat shown at 12, and the upper length of this belt 12 we support byspiral springs 13, that are mounted upon cross-slats 14, the upwardthrow of the springs being, as usual, limited by cords or binding-wires15. On either side of the main frame of the cot we arrange bars 16,which have downwardly-extendinglegs 17, that are held to the main sidebars, 30, of the bed-frame by clips 19. The bars 16 carry small rollers20, which extend across the bedstead beneath the upper length of thebelt 12. The lower links of toggle-levers 21 are pivotally connected tothe side bars, 30, of the bed-frame, the upper links of thesetoggle-levers being pivotally connected to the bars 16. To the centraljoints of the toggle-levers 21 we connect bars 22,which bars are in turnconnected with the ends of a central drum, 24, by links 23, the drumbeing provided with a le ver arm or handle, 25. The toggle-levers areinversely arranged upon either side of the central drum, so that as thedrum is turned by moving its lever-arm in the direction of the arrowshown in connection therewith in Fig. 2 the toggle-levers will bestraightened out and the rollers 20 will be brought to bear against theunder face of the upper length of the belt or mattress 12, thus raisingsaid belt or mat-tress clear of the springs 13, as is represented inFig. 2.

In using the cot above described a mattress of ordinary construction isplaced upon the upper length of the belt 12, and the side bars, 16, andwith them the cross-rollers 20, are lowered to the position in whichthey are shown in Fig. 1; but when it is desired to inoveapatient fromone bed to another the beds are placed end to end and secured together,the lever 25 is thrown to raise the belt 12 above the springs 13, andthe crank-arm is applied to one end of the shaft of one of the drums 11,one of said shalt ends being formed to receive said crankarm, asindicated in Fig. 2. As the crankarm is turned, the upper length of thebelt 12 of the bed or cot upon which the patient is resting will beadvanced toward the J adjacent bed, carrying the mattress forward, andat this time the belt 12 of the bed to which the patient is to betransferred should be advanced at the same rate of speed and in the samedirection as that imparted to the belt of 9 the bed from which thepatient is to be moved. Having thus fully described our invention, weclaim as new and desire to secure by Let ters Patent- 1. Thecombination, with a bed frame, of

drums supported thereby, a belt supported by the drums, and springsmounted upon crossslats that are supported by the bed-frame and arrangedto support the upper length of the belt, substantially as described.

2. The combination, with a bed-frame, of drums supported thereby, anendless belt carried by the drums; side bars loosely connected to thebed-frame, rollers journaled in said side bars, and a means,substantially as described, for raising the side bars, as and for thepurpose stated.

3. The combination, with a bed-frame, of rollers or drums supportedthereby, a belt supported by the rollers, springs mounted upon I5 slatsand arranged to support the upper length of the belt, side bars, 16,provided with downwardly-extending legs 17, clips 19, by which the legsare loosely held to the bed-frame, toggle-levers 21, connected to thebed-frame and 20 to the side bars, 16, a central drum, and connectionsbetween said central drum and the toggle-levers, substantially asdescribed.

ELIZABETH DOUGLAS STAPLES. HUGH E. ASHORAFT. \Vitnesses:

EDWARD KENT, J12, O.- SEDGWIOK.

